Starting Over in a New World
by Emijier
Summary: The final battle is over, but the only survivors are Harry and Neville. The two disguise themselves as twins and travel to an alternate universe to start over. Voldemort is still alive and well, something Harry doesn't agree with. AU, undergoing revision.
1. Damn, Everyone's Dead

I know I shouldn't start a new story now, but I really want to, so I'm going to, and you can't stop me!!! Sorry, I know that was a little immature. Basically, all of Harry's friends except Neville are dead, so the two disguise themselves and travel to another dimension where (hopefully) they can start over their lives. AU of course!!!

Chapter One of my AU Story by Morsmordre

Hogwarts was usually a cheerful place. Usually, the sound of laughter (and yes, shouting, but that's not the point) could be heard if you stood in the Great Hall, or by the lake, or someplace else in Hogwarts where people gather.

But today, Hogwarts wasn't even close to cheerful. Hogwarts was gone—destroyed by Lord Voldemort and his minions, the Death Eaters. In its place was a battlefield—a battlefield that was covered with dead bodies.

But among all the… uh, dead bodies… someone moved. This someone was an eighteen-year-old boy (or rather, man) with messy black hair and bright green eyes. Today his eyes were not bright, but rather dull. His eyes had lost their shine, probably because he knew, as he sat up, that his task was done, and Voldemort was dead, but so were all his friends and the people he loved. Even people he liked, or didn't know that well, like Kingsley Shacklebolt and Charlie Weasley—they were all dead.

Harry felt like crying, and he would have, if the tears in his eyes worked. But they didn't, so Harry just sat there, wondering what he should then do.

Suddenly, Harry heard a voice. "H-Harry?" the voice croaked.

Harry leapt up and turned to see who it was. His heart sank. It was Neville.

Immediately after this thought, Harry felt extremely guilty. It wasn't that he didn't like Neville; it was just that he hoped it would have been Ron, Hermione, Ginny, or even Remus who had survived. This just made Harry feel even guiltier, but he pushed all thoughts and guilt aside and went over to see if Neville was OK.

"Harry? Are you OK?" Neville rolled over and sat up. "Where's everyone?" He froze when he saw the dead bodies strewn over the battlefield.

"Everyone's dead," Harry muttered. His voice came out all raspy, as if he hadn't used it in a long time. "Everyone…"

Harry had never seen Neville cry, but tears filled his (Neville's, I mean) eyes and threatened to spill over.

"Where's Luna?" Neville mumbled, getting up shakily.

Luna Lovegood had begun dating Neville at the beginning of seventh year. Harry had watched Luna fall to a Killing Curse cast by Bellatrix Lestrange, intended for Neville. Neville hadn't seen Luna die, because Bellatrix had cast the spell at his back. When Neville finished off the Death Eater he had been dueling (Snape, of all people—it sounded almost ridiculous that Neville had killed Snape), he (Neville, I mean) managed to kill Bellatrix. (I know that sounds cold-hearted, but she really deserved it.)

Harry wished he didn't have to be the one to break the news to his friend. "She was killed," he said sadly.

Neville's eyes widened. "By who?" he stammered.

"Bellatrix Lestrange."

Neville clenched his fists and then replied, "If she weren't dead already, I would've said 'I'll kill her.'"

Harry was about to smile when there was a flash of golden light. Fawkes had appeared.

Fawkes was no longer cheerful after Dumbledore had died. Well, Fawkes was sometimes happy, but now, seeing that the only two people alive in Hogwarts were Harry and Neville, the phoenix didn't look so happy. Fawkes had a bulky envelope tied to his leg.

Harry pulled the envelope off gently and pulled out the letter. After reading it, he showed it to Neville, whose eyes widened when he saw what was scrawled on the thin sheet of paper.

_To Harry Potter:_

_If you are reading this, then I am dead, and you have won the final battle against Voldemort. If all your friends or everyone you love is dead, then you have a chance to start over._

_If there are other people left, other friends who have not died then do not use this spell. But if you are the only one left after defeating Voldemort, use the following spell to transport yourself to another dimension._

_The dimension you go to may be completely different from ours, but you will get a chance to see everyone you love (that has died) alive again. There is no way to return, unless the Dumbledore of that other dimension is alive and can find a way back, so remember—if you utter the spell, you will not have a chance to come back to our dimension._

_Use a glamour charm and change your names once you get there. Hogwarts is the safest place to be._

_-Albus Dumbledore_

_The incantation is "Proferre Lueciende Tempus Fatieus." _(A/N: I made the whole thing up. I think some of it is Latin, and then some of it is Latin-sounding gobbledygook.)

Neville blinked a few times in shock. "Are you leaving?" he asked.

Harry cast dark eyes around the battlefield, and then the Forbidden Forest, which was beginning to burn. Smoke was drifting up from the trees.

And then the battlefield, the battlefield with all its dead bodies and pools of blood…

Harry felt sick.

"Yes, I'm leaving."

Neville scrambled up to his feet, his eyes panicky. "Then I'm going too! I can't stay here, Harry, I'd go mad!"

Harry knew this was true.

"You can come with me," he offered.

Neville nodded mutely. "Hopefully everyone's still alive there…" he muttered.

"Thanks, Fawkes," Harry said to the phoenix, stroking Fawkes's feathers. Fawkes gave a little trill before disappearing in a flash of golden flames.

"I need to get some things," Neville muttered. He began searching the ground. "Where's my wand?"

Fawkes appeared again, two wands in his beak. Fawkes was carrying Harry's Invisibility Cloak, the Marauders Map, Harry's Firebolt, and Hedwig's cage, with Hedwig inside, Harry's familiar, a long, thin blue-and-green-scaled female snake named Shaneera, Trevor, Neville's toad, and a crystal necklace.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the necklace as he collected his and Neville's things from Fawkes, who disappeared again. "Is this yours?"

Neville flushed scarlet. "It was my mother's," he explained quietly. "I was going to give it to Luna."

Harry nodded in understanding, while trying not to think about Ginny. Ginny had been murdered by Rodolphus Lestrange. Harry had been so furious when he saw Ginny fall that he flew into a murdering rage, shooting curses at her murderer until he (Ginny's murderer, I mean) and any other Death Eaters in the vicinity were dead, on the ground, and bleeding.

Harry immediately saw his wand and gave the other one to Neville. Then Harry cast a cleaning spell on himself, and all the blood and other stuff on him disappeared.

"Where did you get an Invisibility Cloak?" Neville gasped, upon seeing the Cloak.

Harry felt a stab of guilt when he realized that he hadn't told Neville all his secrets. "It was my father's," he replied quietly, shrinking all of his things (with the exception of Hedwig and Shaneera) and putting them into the pockets of his robes.

Neville stuck the necklace into his pocket and held on tightly to Trevor. "Should we cast the spell now?"

Harry nodded. Then, pointing their wands at themselves, in unison, they chanted, _"Proferre Lueciende Tempus Fatieus!"_

The two teenage boys disappeared in a flash of blinding white light.

Somewhere where Hogwarts had once been, a phoenix began to sing a sad, mournful, song.

Somewhere in Britain, the Ministry of Magic received a report that Harry Potter had finally killed Lord Voldemort.

Somewhere in the afterlife, or up in heaven, Dumbledore smiled to himself.

And somewhere in another world, two boys appeared in a flash of blinding white light.

A/N: How was it??? Please read and review!!!


	2. Thomas and Peter Thompson

**Chapter Two** _by Morsmordre_

A/N: I got eleven reviews! I'm so happy—I've never gotten so many reviews on a chapter before. ;) (Isn't that just sad?) Now… on with the story!

* * *

Key:

"Dialogue"

_Thoughts_

::Parseltongue::

* * *

The first thing Harry thought when he landed by the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Neville and his things was _Hogwarts!_

Yes, they were at Hogwarts. But not the battlefield, it was the castle.

Hogwarts castle stood, looming magnificently over the forest, the lake, and everything else on Hogwarts ground. Harry could hear the chatter of students speaking from where he stood.

Harry grabbed Neville's arm and led him just a few feet into the Forbidden Forest so they wouldn't be seen by the students having their Care of Magical Creatures lesson over by Hagrid's hut.

"It worked, Harry," Neville breathed, sounding incredulous. "It actually worked!"

Harry suddenly felt joyful, but he immediately squashed the feeling. "Damn," he swore. "We didn't bring any money!"

Neville's face fell slightly—for a moment. "First of all, we should put on glamour charms," he suggested. "Then we can find a job."

Harry nodded. "We can pose as… twins," he offered. "And we can stay at the Three Broomsticks in exchange for working for Madam Rosmerta."

"I'm not really good at casting a glamour charm," Neville said. "Could you…"

Harry nodded and thought a minute before waving his wand and saying the incantation.

Neville's hair turned a dark chestnut brown and his nose lengthened a bit. His eyes also turned a shade of dark blue, and freckles appeared around his nose. Neville also grew a bit taller, and his arms became more muscular.

Harry conjured a mirror and handed it to Neville, who gaped at his reflection, doing a very good imitation of a fish.

"Thanks, Harry," Neville finally managed to close his mouth to say.

"No problem." Once again, Harry pointed his wand at himself and muttered the incantation, basing his new look on the way Neville looked now.

Harry felt his hair grow longer, and suddenly he was blind for a moment—the next thing he knew, his glasses were fogging up his vision. Harry pulled his glasses off and noted, with some surprise, that his arms were very tanned.

Harry took the mirror he had just conjured up for Neville and looked in it. His hair was the same color as Neville's, and his eyes were the same dark blue. He had no freckles, and his nose remained the same as usual, but he still could pass for Neville's twin brother.

The only problem was Harry's scar. (The lightning bolt one on his forehead, of course.) It still remained on Harry's forehead, as plain as day.

Harry decided that his scar could stay. To heck with it!

Hedwig hooted irritably. Harry realized that she was annoyed with his familiar, Shaneera.

::Stupid featherbrain!:: Shaneera hissed angrily, her tongue flicking back and forth.

Harry chuckled. ::Shaneera, are you all right?::

::Master, you have not spoken for a long time. Where are we?::

::In an alternate reality::

::I see::

Although Harry could tell from the snake's tone of voice (if that was possible) that she didn't.

See, I mean.

"Should we go now, Harry?" Neville asked. He was no longer freaked out by all the time Harry spent hissing at his snake, considering how much time Harry did that.

"Yeah…" Harry walked out of the Forbidden Forest and ducked toward the Whomping Willow. "We can get to Hogsmeade this way."

Considering all the time he had spent with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and various members of the Order, all while making battle plans and strategies to take down Voldemort, Neville was not at all surprised about the secret passageway. He had learned of it a few months ago.

As the two teenagers walked down the passageway in silence, each immersed in his own thoughts, Shaneera began hissing agitatedly. Harry stroked her scales to calm her down in an absentminded sort of way.

"We're almost there," Neville finally said.

Suddenly Harry realized that anyone could cast a "Finite Incantatem" on them, and their covers would be blown. Cursing quietly to himself, Harry pulled out his wand again.

"Harry? What are you doing?" Neville asked nervously.

Harry muttered the defensive shield spells under his breath, while pointing his wand at Neville. _This better be right, _he thought grimly.

A gold shimmer shot out of Harry's wand at Neville. It enveloped his entire body in a gold mist and glittered a bit more before disappearing.

"What was that?" Neville asked.

"Defensive shields," Harry replied. "Otherwise someone could just cast a 'Finite Incantatem' on you and the glamour charm will come off."

Harry did the same thing to himself before the two boys continued down the passageway.

* * *

Madam Rosmerta was just washing some dishes when two boys entered the pub.

"Hello boys, what can I do for you?" She asked them, a cleaning rag still in her hand.

The two boys looked like brothers. They both had chestnut brown hair, dark blue eyes, and were tanned and muscular. One of them had an owl.

"Hi, is there a place we could stay for a while?" the taller boy asked.

"We'll work here in exchange for housing," the shorter one added. "We need a place to stay for a while."

"Of course, there are guest rooms upstairs," Rosmerta replied. The two seemed friendly enough, and they hadn't attacked her or anything. Still, she had never seen them before, and resolved to keep an eye on them. You could never tell these days who were Death Eaters and who weren't.

"Thanks," one of them said.

"The stairs to get upstairs are over there," Rosmerta told them, pointing. "By the way, what are your names?"

The taller boy stopped abruptly. "Peter," he said quickly. "Peter... Thompson."

"And I'm Thomas, but you can call me Tom," the other boy added. "We're twins."

"Nice meeting you," Rosmerta replied. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Forgive me for sounding rude, but I'm really tired right now." She mentally smacked herself for saying something like that to two strangers she had just met.

"That's OK." The teenagers headed upstairs with their things, leaving a thoughtful Rosmerta behind.

"Might be Death Eaters," grunted a short man sitting nearby, with his nose buried in the _Daily Prophet_. "You never know these days," he added, eyeing her in a sort of annoyed fashion.

"Oh, stop it!" Rosmerta returned crossly, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of the head that taunted her, saying, _You had the same thoughts just a few minutes ago!_ "They seemed nice enough!"

The man merely grunted again and continued reading his newspaper.

Rosmerta sighed, but promised herself to tell Dumbledore about the newcomers. He would want to know...

* * *

"Peter? Why the hell did I have to say _Peter_?" Harry groaned. "That's just great. No, really. I mean, _Peter_?!?!"

"Your choice," Neville snickered.

"There are some rooms here," Harry said to Neville, stopping when they got to the top of the stairs. "You can take that one." He pointed to the one by the staircase. "And I'll take that one," he finished, pointing to the room next to it.

"'Kay," Neville replied, walking up to the door and testing out the doorknob. It didn't move. He pulled out his wand and muttered, _"Alohomora!" _The lock clicked and the door swung open. Neville headed into his room, but not before saying, "Good night… _Peter_."

Harry shook his head and entered his room after unlocking it—and then locking it again, as well as locking the door the Muggle way and putting up a few shield wards to keep people from entering—Muggle or magical.

Harry turned on a lamp and saw that the room was a small square, with a bathroom and a closet nearby. The lamps cast a dim, eerie yellow glow over the small room, and the mattress of the bed creaked as Harry sat down on it.

The carpet was a dark maroon, and there were yellow flowered curtains hanging around the windows. Harry pulled back the curtains, and sunlight streamed through into the small room.

There was a painting of a man with dark hair above the bedpost. He was snoring softly, but since Harry didn't know if he was pretending or not, he didn't say anything.

Suddenly Harry felt very tired. With that thought, he lay down and fell fast asleep.

* * *

A/N: What do you think? I think the ending was kind of lame, but I decided to end it here. Yes, it's in the afternoon, but look, he just jumped through dimensions, OK? That's bound to have made you tired. Now, you see that purplish-blue button down there? Check to make sure the words next to it on the left say "Submit Review," and then click that button! Then type some words in the box that pops up and submit it! Easy as that!

A/N 2: What's a beta? I mean, I know a beta is someone who edits your stories or something like that, but what's the exact dictionary definition? Or rather, what's the exact fanfiction definition/term??? I'd like to know. And I'd like to have one, too. A beta, I mean. Someone who's good at spelling and grammar—I mean, I'm OK at it, but not the best. So anyone want to be my beta? Leave a review! Or message me. ;)


	3. Newspapers and Harry

**A/N:** This chapter hasn't been sent back from one of my betas, **sphinxgurl**, yet—but I figured you people don't want to wait that long for the next chapter, so here it is. It's longer than the last two. It's been betaed by **Persephone of Peridot**. I'll repost it when **sphinxgurl** sends it back. (No offense meant; I just thought I should update this story now.)

* * *

**Chapter Three **_by Morsmordre_

* * *

_Harry was running, running away from all the Death Eaters that were following them. They had to get out of there, and fast._

_"I can't!" Hermione's shrill voice screeched and cut through the air like a knife. "I can't leave him!"_

_"We have to!" Harry shouted, as much as it pained him to admit it. "There's no way he'd survive this encounter. We'll get him later. I promise!"_

_"But they'll torture him!" Hermione was hysterical. "They'll torture him, and he'll be even worse! He _has_ to come!"_

_"I want him to come too, Hermione, but you know it's better this way," Harry tried to reassure her, as much as it hurt him to say it. "He told us to leave him. They weren't going to take us to Voldemort until three days later, anyway."_

_"But if we escape, they'll kill him as retaliation! Harry, please!" Tears flowed freely down her face as she turned and tried to run back._

_"No, Hermione!" Ginny finally spoke up. Her voice was raspy and thick, from not being used so long except to scream when the Death Eaters threw the Cruciatus at them just for their own enjoyment. She was limping, because her ankle was twisted, but she still managed to walk, while being supported by Harry. "I don't want to leave him, but we have to."_

_"No we don't! He's your best friend, Harry!" Hermione was on the brink of hysteria. "Please! Ron! We'll get you!"_

_"Will you shut up?" Ginny suddenly hissed, her teeth gritted in pain. "They'll hear you, and they'll know that we're here, and we'll be killed. How do you think Ron will like that then?"_

_Hermione shook her head. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she struggled to keep up with the rest of them._

_"Over 'ere!" a familiar voice shouted. "They're over 'ere! They're gettin' away!"_

_Harry barely had time to assess the ironic fact that Stan Shunpike really _was_ a Death Eater before he began walking even faster. He couldn't run, though. Ginny would be left behind._

_"Leave me!" Ginny grunted out, her face contorted with pain. "I'll… catch up… with Ron and… tell him how it's going…"_

_"No!" Harry heard himself shout. "You can't! We can make it!"_

_"Now you know how I feel!" Hermione cried out. "You can't leave Ginny, and you can't leave Ron!"_

_Before Harry knew what was happening, Hermione had turned and ran back, toward the prisons and the prisoner… toward Ron… toward the Death Eaters._

_"No!" he shouted, following his friend. "Hermione!"_

_And Ginny, left behind, began yelling. "Harry! Hermione! Get back here! Hermione! Harry!… HARRY!"_

"Harry!"

Harry's eyes snapped open.

"Harry, are you all right, mate?"

Harry jumped out of bed, groped for his wand, and shot a stunner at the stranger with the chestnut-colored hair and dark blue eyes. The stranger dodged it and the stunner hit a glass vase, which smashed. The glass shattered in pieces on the floor. "Who the hell are you?" Harry demanded.

The stranger looked slightly panicked. "It's me, Harry, remember?" he asked. "We have glamour charms on?"

Then the last day came rushing back. _Final battle… everyone dead… alternate universe… glamour charms… Madam Rosmerta… working at the Three Broomsticks…_

"Oh. Right," Harry agreed sheepishly, putting his wand away. "I can't believe I forgot silencing charms…" He shook his head, mentally cursing his own stupidity. "… Did I make a lot of noise?" he asked, fearing the worst.

Neville shook his head. "I woke up and heard sounds from your room. I know all the wards you put up, so I broke through them to come here. You were tossing about in your sleep and muttering stuff, but you weren't screaming or anything." Neville shook his head. "I can't believe you forgot silencing charms. Even I put them up."

"I know," Harry groaned. "Apparently jumping through dimensions tired me out." He sighed. "What time is it?"

Neville shrugged. "Seven in the morning. I told Rosmerta we'd work at the Three Broomsticks in exchange for a place to live, so… get dressed."

Harry's eyes widened. "I really slept that long?"

Neville nodded. "Get dressed," he repeated. "Peter," he added as an afterthought.

"Don't remind me, _Tom_." Harry groaned. "Why did you say Tom, anyway? That's Voldemort's name. Add that to the fact that the barman at the Leaky Cauldron is also named Tom, and… well, I won't be able to call the 'Dark Lord' Tom anymore." When Harry said the _Dark Lord_, he used a sarcastic tone of voice.

Neville shrugged. "You said Thompson; the first thing that popped into my mind was Tom. Besides, you said Peter."

Harry nodded. "I'll be down soon."

Neville nodded his agreement and turned to leave.

"Put the shields and spells back up!" Harry yelled after his retreating back.

* * *

By the time Harry got down to the pub to work, it was almost eight. Neville was sitting in the corner, chewing on a roll. His dark hair fell in his face and cast shadows, which made him look almost scary.

"_Tom_, did you know that that might scare little kids?" Harry teased, sitting down and helping himself to some breakfast.

Neville raised an eyebrow, something he had learned from Harry. "Oh, really?" he asked, sounding uninterested.

"Yeah. There are shadows on your face, and it makes you look dark." Harry smirked and chewed on a buttered piece of bread.

A woman who looked as if she were in her early twenties was sitting at the table nearby, her eyes glued to the latest edition of the _Daily Prophet_.

"Hey, ma'am, can I see that?" Harry asked, leaning over the table to speak to her.

The woman glanced at him, looking bored. "Sure," she responded, tossing the copy of the newspaper at their table.

Harry deftly caught it and glanced at the headlines, starting from the bottom: _Celestina Warbeck Concert Tickets Sold Out… Minister Crouch Tightens Security… _and, in blaring green headlines at the top, _Death Eater Attack in Kent_. In smaller letters, it read, _See Page Six_.

Harry turned to page six and stared at the article.

**Death Eater Attack in Kent**

**By Melody Cantranne**

_At approximately ten o'clock at night, about fifty-five Death Eaters showed up in Kent, with the intention of a massacre. Mr. Edward Camp, a former Auror, led a group of residents in the fight against the Death Eaters until backup arrived. Camp allegedly gathered as many able witches and wizards as he could find and they marched against the death eaters, fighting until the end. A total of twenty-seven witches and wizards (all who fought against him plus six others) as well as fifty-six Muggles were killed (ten of them children). On the other hand, only a mere eleven Death Eaters were killed or captured. A family member of the now deceased Edward Camp spoke to the Daily Prophet yesterday and was quoted saying, "He was a great man and all of the Camp family is proud of him for what he did, no matter how much it hurt to lose him." Camp as well as all the others who fell defending the town will be buried in the wizarding half of the Kent cemetery. For more information on Kent and the relations between Muggles and wizards see page 3. For more information on the Death Eaters captured, see page 8. _

Above the article was a picture of the small town of Kent, with a sickly green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth above the burning houses—the Dark Mark.

"Look at this," Harry muttered, shoving the paper in front of Neville's nose.

Neville read the article, and his eyes widened in disgust and horror.

"Maybe we _should _become Aurors," Harry sighed, not liking the idea one bit—after all, they had to stay close to Hogwarts.

After breakfast, Neville went and asked Rosmerta how they should help—after all, in the rush to get to the alternate universe, they had forgotten about getting money, so they had to work at the Three Broomsticks.

"I need some things from Diagon Alley," Rosmerta replied, handing Neville a list and a sack of gold coins. "After you buy the things on the list, help yourself to the money. Buy whatever you like—you really don't have any money on you?"

Neville shook his head. "I'll go now. Thanks." He turned to Harry. "You coming, Peter?"

'Peter' shook his head. "I'll stay and help here." Lowering his voice, he added, "Find some newspapers. We need to know the history of this universe."

Neville agreed and Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, while Harry stayed to help Madam Rosmerta with the work at her pub.

* * *

After Neville bought Rosmerta's things for her, he began searching for old newspapers in the streets. The thing about newspapers was that whenever you were walking down the street on any random day, they seemed to be everywhere—littering the ground, blown across the street, etc. However, if you were actually _searching_ for a newspaper, you could never find one.

After a few hours of scrutinizing the surrounding area for anything that looked like it might have been touched by a journalist while the sun climbed up the sky nearing lunchtime, Neville finally had collected a small stack of newspapers. He glanced at the headlines on the covers of all the issues of the _Daily Prophet_.

The most recent one was from today, with the article on the Death Eater attack in Kent—it was a September issue, which meant school at Hogwarts had just started. The latest one was from two years ago—not nearly long enough. He would have to look in the Hogwarts library for even older editions.

Neville sighed, and headed back toward the Leaky Cauldron to Floo to the Three Broomsticks and tell Harry of his progress so far.

* * *

Harry was just wiping the table of a customer who had left moments before when the fire flared green and Neville came tumbling out, bags of… ah… _stuff _in his hands.

After giving the things to Rosmerta, Neville came and whispered to Harry, "Hurry up, and then get back up to our rooms. I have to show you something."

Harry nodded in agreement, and proceeded to wipe the table until it was shiny and clean.

"Can I take a break?" he asked Rosmerta, who nodded her head, distracted. A man she was trying to console was yelling at her, infuriated about the service or something like that.

"Look at this," Neville hissed, once Harry had slipped into the room. "Voldemort's having a field day. I'm shocked Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Hogsmeade, and Hogwarts are still standing."

"Did you find anything of great importance? Such as what happened in Godric's Hollow on Halloween night or anything?" Harry questioned, taking the newspaper from Neville and scanning the articles on attacks in various towns with his green… oops, brown eyes.

"No. The earliest edition was two years ago. I'm planning to go to Hogwarts to look at the newspapers. Maybe we can take on a teaching position or something."

"Alright," Harry nodded. "So… we could go to Hogwarts later—say we want to check it out or something. I have to go back down now."

Neville nodded distractedly.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his study, reading the article in the _Daily Prophet_. Tom had attacked Kent now… but He himself wasn't there.

Dumbledore sighed. It would only be a matter of time until Tom starting acting up even more. He was only getting started…

An owl tapped on the window, interrupting his musings. He got up and opened it for the bird, catching the letter just as the owl dropped it, examining the yellow envelope closely.

It was Rosmerta's handwriting. Rosmerta was the owner of the pub the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.

Dumbledore scanned the letter and frowned slightly. He had never heard of Thomas and Peter Thompson, and he knew a lot of people. The descriptions and the situations of the fraternal twins were unfamiliar.

Dumbledore finished reading the letter and stroked his beard in thought, a contemplative look upon his face. It seemed as though he would have to pay Rosmerta a little visit…

* * *

"Hogwarts students are coming today," Rosmerta explained to her two new workers. "You'll have to work a bit more, I'm afraid." She smiled warmly.

Harry nodded and glanced over at the doorway. Already, a few students were trickling in.

His heart jumped when he saw a sandy-haired boy standing in line, wanting to order a few drinks. He hadn't been close friends with Dean Thomas, but just seeing someone who had died in his world alive here still jarred him to the fact that this was a whole new reality.

Neville, who had finally left their rooms, came down and greeted Dean Thomas coolly, handing him a few butterbeers.

"Thanks," Dean said politely and headed toward a seat, followed by an unfamiliar boy with blond hair and violet eyes.

The bell that hung over the door of the pub tinkled merrily again as some more people entered. Harry grasped the countertop tightly, his knuckles turning white. There, standing in the doorway, was Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Michael Corner, and…

Harry's breath caught in his throat and he nearly choked. It was himself.

* * *

**A/N:** How's that for a cliffhanger? ;) Please review!

-Morsmordre


	4. A Dumbledore Interrogation

**A/N: **I'm sorry for the long wait, but just to let you know, this isn't my main story… "Returning to Life" (a James-comes-back-to-life story) is… so the updates may be rather slow.

This chapter has NOT been betaed… mostly because my stupid e-mail isn't working. I don't know why; it just won't let me log in. My apologies to the readers for mistakes and to my betas, **sphinxgurl **and **Persephone of Peridot**.

Here is the chapter… the cliffhanger is over!!! Hehe.

Plus, I made a mistake in the last chapter. Where it said "scanning the articles on attacks in various towns with his green… oops, brown eyes," I really meant "blue eyes." Sorry!

* * *

**Chapter Four of "Starting Over in a New World" **_by Morsmordre_

* * *

Harry's counterpart looked almost exactly like himself. There was the same unruly black hair, the same emerald green eyes, and the same glasses… except for the fact that they (the glasses, that is) weren't broken. But there was one major difference, Harry realized, as his eyes traveled up to his counterpart's forehead…

There was no scar.

"Er, hello?"

Harry (I'm just going to call him Peter for now—it isn't permanent; it's for only when the other Harry from the alternate dimension is with the Harry from the canon dimension in the same place) blinked and saw that his counterpart was staring at him.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked.

"Er…" Peter nodded quickly. "I'm fine." He glanced over at Neville, who simply shrugged back at him. "You could sit down or something."

Harry blinked and nodded. "OK," he said slowly, and sat down. Ron Weasley sat next to him, and Hermione Granger and Michael Corner across from them.

Peter busied himself with tidying up a table where a customer had left, and he just overheard snatches of their conversation.

"He was looking at you funny," Ron could be heard saying. "What's the matter with him?"

"Who knows; who cares? You always have to overanalyze everything, Ron. It's annoying," Harry replied, laughing.

"Just wondering," Ron retorted, scowling. "Where's Ginny?"

"Detention, remember?" Michael asked. "Thought that even you would remember that… ever since the Chamber incident in second year, you've been way too overprotective of her. And you're only a year older than her."

Peter's grip tightened on the cleaning rag he was holding.

Michael seemed to have realized that he said something wrong, because he added quickly, "Sorry. Didn't mean to bring up bad memories…"

"Bad memories?" Ron snarled. "_Bad memories?! _One of my best mates _died_ rescuing her, and you say that was _bad memories_?!"

"Sorry," Michael muttered, and fell silent. He seemed to be content with sipping the butterbeers Neville had brought them and not saying anything.

Meanwhile, Harry's (I'm going to call him "Harry" and not "Peter" now, OK? Jeez, this can get a bit confusing…) mind was buzzing. So someone had died rescuing Ginny… Who was it? It couldn't be his counterpart, when said counterpart was sitting right across from him in the booth next to the one he was tidying up. Maybe it was Neville… who knew? The Harry of this world didn't have the scar, so maybe the Neville of this world was the Boy-Who-Lived. And he hadn't seen the Neville of this world anywhere…

Harry threw down the cleaning rag. He needed some answers, and where better than to get them from the Hogwarts library? He really needed to get there.

Before Harry could say anything to Neville or Rosmerta, however, the bell above the door of the Three Broomsticks tinkled again, signaling the entrance of someone else.

It was Dumbledore.

So, Harry realized, Dumbledore was still alive here. He looked perfectly fine, if not in the middle of a war.

_Damn it. I need answers to my questions!!!_

"Hello," Dumbledore greeted Rosmerta pleasantly. "I'd like a butterbeer, if that's OK with you…"

"Of course. You know anyone is welcome here." Rosmerta paused. "Well, almost anyone…"

Harry knew she was referring to Death Eaters or Voldemort himself.

Dumbledore and Rosmerta lowered their voices, so Harry couldn't hear what they were saying. But after a moment, Dumbledore walked over and greeted Harry neutrally.

"Hello… Peter Thompson?" Dumbledore began.

Harry mentally swore. Of course! Rosmerta didn't completely trust them (Harry couldn't blame her—if they were in the middle of a war against Voldemort, it would be unwise to judge people on first impressions) and had told Dumbledore about the fraternal twins who had showed up at her pub, seeking work and a place to stay. And now Dumbledore was here to interrogate him.

"I've never seen or heard of you before," Dumbledore commented lightly as he took a seat. "May I ask a few questions?"

_Oh, nice, Dumbledore. Reaaallly nice. So very subtle and smooth…_

_Not._

Honestly, could he be any more obvious about it?

But then again, maybe that was a good thing. Harry had had to deal with a manipulative Dumbledore back in his dimension all the time. It had been rather annoying.

Harry plastered on a fake smile, preparing for the interrogation. "Sure you can. Would you like to speak to my twin brother, Tom, as well?"

He saw Dumbledore's eyes widen at the word… er, name _Tom_. So he knew Voldemort's identity.

"That would be appreciated," Dumbledore agreed with a nod of his head.

"Oy! Tom!" Harry called.

Neville ignored him—whether it was because he didn't want to speak to Dumbledore right now or if it was because he wasn't used to people calling him "Tom," Harry didn't know.

"Wait a moment," Harry muttered to Dumbledore and then sidled up to Neville and poked him… hard.

"Ow! What was that for?" Neville demanded, whirling around.

Harry nodded subtly—or what he hoped was subtly—at Dumbledore and mouthed, "Dumbledore wants to speak to us."

Neville seemed to understand what Dumbledore probably _really _wanted, because he shrugged and mouthed back, "OK," and followed Harry to a seat where Dumbledore was.

"So… Where do you come from?" Dumbledore asked, taking a sip of his butterbeer.

Harry was about to answer, but Neville beat him to it. "Australia," he returned smoothly. "We were born there and grew up there, but we decided to move here, to Britain."

"I see," Dumbledore mused.

That was when Harry felt a light probing in his mind. If it weren't for his very strong Occlumency shields, Harry wouldn't have noticed it.

_Damn_, he cursed to himself.

Harry wasn't going to take down his Occlumency shields or anything… not that he wanted to. But Dumbledore would probably find it suspicious that his Occlumency shields were so strong when most people didn't even have any.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, raised his eyebrows (but just slightly, so no one would notice) at the impressive Occlumency shields Peter Thompson seemed to have. While most people's minds were disorganized and had information running all over the place, Peter Thompson's memories, thoughts, and feelings were neatly stacked in boxes behind a formidable, looming gray stone wall. Dumbledore would need something very strong to break through the shields… and he wasn't going to.

Dumbledore retreated out of the Australian's mind and studied his face carefully for any indication that he had felt the gentle probing. But Peter looked like nothing had happened… he was still sitting there, now discussing something with his twin, Tom.

Dumbledore tried Tom's mind next. Tom had Occlumency shields, too, but Dumbledore could tell they weren't his own. Someone was protecting Tom's mind for him… but whom? Perhaps Peter, his twin?

Harry, meanwhile, felt very annoyed indeed that just one question into the interrogation and Dumbledore was already prying around in their heads for answers. Neville probably felt the same way, only a milder version of "annoyed" would better suit him.

After what seemed like forever, Dumbledore finally stopped asking questions and stood up and left with a few parting words: "You're welcome at Hogwarts at any time, you know."

Harry nodded his head, when he suddenly remembered the Hogwarts library. "Actually, I'd like to come today, if that's possible."

Dumbledore seemed a bit surprised, but he hid it well. "Alright," he agreed.

"Let me just grab… a jacket or something," Harry lied.

Dumbledore nodded his consent.

"You coming… Tom?" Harry asked.

"Sure." Neville got up and followed Harry up to their rooms.

* * *

Shaneera was on Harry's bed, and hissing to boot, when Harry walked into his room.

::Where are you going?:: Shaneera wanted to know.

::Hogwarts:: Harry replied vaguely.

::Can I go?::

::No::

::Why not?::

::Because if the people in this alternate reality—::

Harry didn't get to finish his sentence.

::There you go with the alternate reality again. What do you mean by it?::

::I thought you were smart. You said you were::

Shaneera chose not to reply to that.

::Well, why can't I come?::

::Because the people in this alternate reality are perhaps in the middle of a war against Voldemort, and snakes represent him. People will think I'm a Death Eater if I bring a snake to Hogwarts::

::Then hide me::

::Too bad; I won't::

::I really don't know why I put up with you, Master::

Harry rolled his eyes and left the room before Shaneera could make any more comments, and went to meet Neville in the hall.

He hadn't expecting on Hedwig flying up to him and pecking him, though.

* * *

By the time Harry finally escaped from his attacking owl, he was sore—and pecked—all over.

"Demented owl," Harry muttered an explanation at Neville's questioning gaze.

The long trek up to Hogwarts castle seemed to take forever, but maybe that was just because of Dumbledore, in front of him. Even though Dumbledore was well over a few paces ahead, Harry didn't dare discuss anything important with Neville with Dumbledore nearby.

"Would you like to meet the teachers?" Dumbledore asked politely when the trio had finally reached the Hogwarts doors.

"Maybe later. I'd like to check out the Hogwarts library first," Harry replied in the most nonchalant tone of voice he could.

"All right," Dumbledore agreed, but Harry—and Neville, for that matter—didn't miss Dumbledore narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Harry played dumb and asked how to get to the library. After receiving directions, he and Neville left.

After a silent walk, Madam Pince let them in the library. Neville and Harry immediately went after the archive of newspapers.

"My God… they have them dating back to the early 1800's!" Neville exclaimed in shock, pulling out a particularly old pile.

"We don't need those," Harry muttered. "Search for newspapers from the early 1980's…"

After a few minutes, all the necessary newspapers were out, and both Harry and Neville began searching through them for information about this new world they were both in.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, I know, this chapter completely sucked and was very, very short, but I'm not in a writing mood right now. At least, not for this story. I really want to get this chapter out, though, as well as the seventh chapter of "Returning to Life," so it's of poor quality. I will either rewrite and repost this chapter some other time, and/or the next chapter will be better. Promise!

-Morsmordre


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